Jameson’s New Bitters Taste Like Seaweed

Here’s a cocktail flavor you probably never considered drinking: ocean! But with their latest foray in the bitters market, Jameson is hoping you’re up for a swim, because they’ve just announced the launch of wild seaweed bitters. At the very least, we’re betting this unusual ingredient is mermaid-approved!

According to the drink maker, the bitters contain “a highly concentrated infusion of Jameson Irish whiskey, a variety of herbs—including cinchona, wormwood, ginseng and gentian—and wild dillisk seaweed.” It supposedly tastes as aromatic and bitter as it sounds. You can sure bet that this is not something you’d find in your granddad’s Old Fashioned!

As for the seaweed itself, it’s actually harvested by hand in Long Rock, County Sligo, Ireland, courtesy of second generation seaweed farmers. It’s then sun-dried on the shore. In other words, if you ever wanted to literally drink the Irish coast, now’s your chance!

These bitters are currently only available at Jameson’s Dublin and Midleton distilleries, as well as online, and retail for about $25. It might sound pricey, but it’s still cheaper than a trip to Ireland! Plus, you can impress your friends at your next cocktail party by having the most diverse flavor offerings around. Even if they aren’t fans of the taste, they’ll at least be amused by its novelty value, right?

This is Jameson’s second bitters product on the market. They previously launched the more conventional tasting Wild Sloe Berry Bitters three years ago.

Brendan Buckley, Irish Distillers’ innovation director had this to say about the new product, “Since launching our Jameson Bitters project back in 2015, the feedback from the global on-trade has been fantastic, so we cannot wait to see how bartenders around the world interpret the flavour of the Irish coastline in their creations using Jameson Wild Seaweed Bitters, the first seaweed bitters in the market.” Here’s hoping it goes swimmingly!

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Jessica is an Associate Editor at Chowhound. Follow her on Twitter @volume_knob for updates on snacks and cats.